


drive away

by americangentleman



Category: High School Musical The Series, high school musical the musical the series, hsmtmts - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Cute, Death, Fluff, Gay, M/M, Sad, car crash, redky - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:28:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22194067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americangentleman/pseuds/americangentleman
Summary: they had the radio blasting, singing their hearts out and laughing like there was no tomorrow. no one to tell them what they can or can't do. no one to tell them how disruptive they were. no one to tell them how they should feel and what they shouldn't feel.no worrying about what was before or what's coming next. it was the two of them against the empty roads to another world. wherever they went, they were together. and it would always be like that.
Relationships: big red/ricky bowen, redky
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	drive away

ricky was clearly having a bad day, red noted as he watched ricky stare into space. he was typically more interactive and wanted to beat red at mario kart.

"ricky?" red broke the silence.

rickys head shot up as he came out of his trance. "yeah?" 

red knew exactly what his friend needed. their favorite thing to do during these times were to escape. just to leave. it was like nothing existed; they just forgot about any worries when on the ride. 

"let's go," red said. rickys face lit up as they loaded into the old car that was red. 

"where to this time?" ricky asked, excitedly buckling up.

"where ever the road takes us, ricky. where ever it takes me. red pulled out of the driveway and off they were. so what if it was a school night? they didn't care. they were free.

they had the radio blasting, singing their hearts out and laughing like there was no tomorrow. no one to tell them what they can or can't do. no one to tell them how disruptive they were. no one to tell them how they should feel and what they shouldn't feel.

no worrying about what was before or what's coming next. it was the two of them against the empty roads to another world. wherever they went, they were together. and it would always be like that.

two peas in a pod. best buddies since forever. once red was able to drive this was what they've done since then. sure they skated a lot together but they couldn't go as far. this? this was what it felt like to be unfettered. 

red didn't know much about rickys personal life. he just knew when ricky really needed him. he knew when ricky needed to live, to just be himself. his bright smiled matched with he cocoa eyes against the sunset that only felt like a mile away. to reach out and touch the sun, to walk on air.

where we they? neither of them ever knew. always some old highway or lost in a valley. it didn't matter. they would always make their way back home at some point. 

ricky never went home until the next day. it wasn't just the long car rides that let him be loose, it was being with red. around nini or gina or ej, he put on a mask. like everything in his life was the way it should be. put together in little pieces that were superglued together to look perfect. it around red he was him. broken fragments easily removed and moved around. red picked those pieces up and glued them back. he could cry and laugh with red. 

ricky and red. red and ricky. nothing tore them apart. ever. they were each other's support. their anchors to their rocky ship in the wind. they took on the world hand in hand. 

they were juniors rushing through the halls ever morning to gain a pointless education. after school ended, what were they going to do?

they'd run away. disappear like they never existed to anyone but each other. 

"where even are we?" ricky laughed, sitting back in his seat. hours and hours of endless driving on beaten up and unrecognizable roads. red shrugged, his bright headlights lighting the way.

"where ever we ended up i guess," red chuckled. "i just know we're on our way back home."

the music was quiet now. they let the darkness engulf them and direct them where they needed to go. their breathing filled the void of empty words. they didn't need tot all to communicate. they just had to be there. it was like their minds were connected. 

"i find it surprising how many empty roads you can find in the middle of utah," red laughed. 

"right? you'd think at an hour like this." it was almost two in the morning. they weren't exactly exhausted but not wide awake.

"you sure you can stay awake all the way home?" ricky joked.

"look at yourself. half asleep and curled into a ball," red rolled his eyes sarcastically.

red could see another pair of headlights rushing down the street. it wasn't anything unusual, they'd see cars here and there all the time. red just kept going.

what he didn't realize was how fast the car was going.

what he didn't realize was the swerving of the car. 

what he didn't realize until it all happened.

they two cars collided roughly. the other car flipping over and rolling off the road. 

red was breathing heavily into the airbag that came out of the steering wheel. he could feel cuts start to seep with blood through the new rips in his clothes. he was shaking intensely, not wanting to think about what just happened.

"ricky, you okay?" silence.

"ricky," red looked up now.

glass of the passenger side shatter completely and the door smashed in. he felt hot tears threaten to spill from the rim of his eyes, looking at the scene ahead. ricky lay with his head against the dashboard, blood running down it and onto the boys jeans. is hands had shards of glass in them and the seat was covered in blood and glass and other broken parts. 

"ricky? ricky answer me," red breathed, beginning to panic. he gently shoved his friend. still no response. tears streamed down his face. "ricky! this isn't funny!" he hiccuped. "you can't do this! you can't, you can't leave me!" red was now broken into desperate sobs.

why did he have to survive?

ricky should've made it.

"we were going to spend our lives together! ricky! ricky wake up! move! breathe?" he cried. it wasn't like anyone could hear him. sirens sounded in the distance, the other car must've pressed the sos button before toppling over. red sat there ignoring the yelling of the first responders, letting himself fall apart.

ricky kept him together. ricky kept him sane. ricky kept him grounded and ready for another adventure. he loved ricky.

the police tore him out of his crumbled car. he watched them put ricky on a stretcher and put him in the ambulance. they tried calming red down but it was useless. 

everything he ever loved was gone. death is forever. he would never see ricky again and it tore him apart. he would strangle the other driver to death for taking ricky away if he wasn't already dead. red was on the ground. he felt weak and sick. living was a curse.

they took his light away. 

all he saw was darkness. how could he go on from this? eventually he was allowed back in his car which thankfully still worked. 

red cursed to himself once everyone had left. uncontrollable screaming no one but he would hear. and the ghost of ricky sitting in his passenger seat.

he knew ricky was there. ricky was telling him everything would be okay. that things happen for a reason. that he was still alive for a reason. 

he started up the gas, gathering the courage to drive again. he just wanted to go home. he wanted to hug ricky. he wanted ricky. 

where ricky once sat that same day. where ricky should be; sound asleep as red drove home with soft lofi-pop played peacefully in the background. where ricky could be was now was stained blood of him and a few glass shards and a broken door. it's what he had left. 

oh god, how would he tell his parents? how would he tell rickys?

he could cry no more. his eyes were bloodshot and his lips quivered with unspoken words. 

there were so many things he wanted to tell ricky. so many things he wanted to do with ricky. he couldn't wait to spend his life with ricky.

now he could only live with the memory of him. the ghost of him that would follow him around.

but he didn't want that. he didn't want ricky in his life after this. he didn't want to think about ricky. it had been about an hour since it happened and all red could think about how mad he was at ricky. ricky promised nothing would happen.

he pulled up to his driveway around 4 am and trudged inside. it only took longer to get home because he had to keep stopping, he couldn't see with watery eyes.

red's mother pulled him into a tight hug as soon as he walked in. "we were worried sick!" she sounded more relieved then mad. but he knew she was furious about being gone for so long. 

this only made red break down into tears again. his parents had no idea what he had gone through that night. "red, hun? what happened?" his mom asked. then she noticed ricky hadn't walked in. "did you take ricky home? where is he?" 

he couldn't speak as his sobbing only grew worse. his parents began realizing what was going on and hugged him tighter, his father jointing in. 

"are you ok, bub?" his older brother asked from close by. "are you hurt?" he asked frantically. red released from his mother and held tightly onto his brother.

his brother and him were almost as close as he and ricky were. his brother knew this and held onto him tightly. "it'll be okay, bub. i promise."

"no, no it's not!" he cried. "he's gone and it's my fault!" 

"hey, hey. don't blame yourself. he wouldn't blame you, red," his brother reasoned. "you couldn't have prevented this."

"he's..he can't be gone. this isn't true. this is all some sick dream!" he stifled out. 

"red, hunny," his mother rubbed his back.

"i'm guessing the hospital already called his parents," his father said softly. "red, this will take a long time to recover. we are here for you."

red didn't remember falling asleep. but he woke up in his bed and looked around tiredly. he definitely missed school. a familiar board was leaning against the wall, waiting to be used.

red forced himself up to walk over to it. it ran his fingers around it slowly. he smiled sadly at all the times ricky had fallen off it and red had to tend to his wounds. his smile turned to frustration and he threw it in a closet full of things he never used and shut it. 

upstairs his parents were chatting with rickys parents. they all had tear stained faces and were talking about the future and the past. rickys parents may not being getting along but it was their son. 

"red," rickys mother said softly as he trudged upstairs. "i want to thank you."

red furrowed his brows, was this some sick joke?

"for taking care of ricky when we couldn't. for always being by his side for all these years. we feel so...so guilty we didn't notice how much pain we caused him," she sniffled. "you gave him an escape. you're the best friend anyone could ask him."

red felt tears fall down his cheeks. the world felt like it was closing in again. it wasn't a dream. it was real. it didn't feel real.

"and don't blame yourself, please. whoever that driver was? it was their fault. not yours."

red stood on the stairs and felt himself shaking. rickys mother walked over and engulfed him into a hug. "we'll be okay soon, love." she comforted the crying boy. both of them were a mess and couldn't believe what was going on. rickys father was silent and sniffled from time to time.

red lost a piece of him. his entire heart was rickys. it was rickys home. red felt at home in rickys heart too. it was gone. he could never get it back.


End file.
